I put in my two cents on the state of things in the game right now, so I figured I might as well try to think of a solution...
How about "electing" an Admin of the Admin lol. This could be done directly through the Polls that already exist, and a majority vote from the players atleast gives them some feeling that their opinions matter.
Jon could publicly create a list of criteria that this person would be required to meet to be eligible, but not so strict as to limit 2 or 3 canditates as being eligible. As the Admin. positions are all on a volunteer basis, the administrators who meet these criteria and would like to be considered would then have to publicly nomintate themselves, and a poll would be created for 3 days.
This person would then be responsible for mediating problems between characters and Admin/Ops. Or complaints regarding the Ops. My thought would be to create a Forum where these complaints could be filed PRIVATELY. Create the Forum Rules to clearly spell out that ONLY complaints regarding severe penalties (fines/kills/suspensions etc.) will be dealt with, and that if a player contacts the UberAdmin asking "why was I kicked for X" will be fined essentially for wasting the UberAdmin's time.
Aditionally the person would create public forum posts to discuss any relevant complaints (that deserve public attention) and the action(s) that are being taken to correct them.
As an example: one person contacts the UberAdmin complaing about Admins selectivly issuing fines for infractions taking place in FS/WTB, UberAdmin (UA?) looks into it a little bit but dosen't think there is a big problem, and contacts the person saying so. 2 or 3 more complaints come in on the same subject, UA looks into it a bit more deeply and sees there genuinely is/is not such a problem. If their is a problem, he or she comes up with a solution, and posts it to the PR, if there is no problem sends replies to the individuals stating that their is no problem .
The reasons that this idea strikes me as a good one:
-it allows Jon to remove himself from some of the personal feelings he has tied into CB, but still allows him to be the "rulling fist" when it comes to all things CB.
-It eliminates public discussion of "possible" infractions by Admin resulting in MASS WHINING and hurt feelings.
-The admin (from my understanding) are all hand picked by Jon to begin with, so there shouldn't be a bad option their in his opinion.
-It would allow Jon to focus on gameplay and gamedevelopment which in most dedicated players eyes are EXCELENT.
-In the event there was a drastic problem that had to be dealt with Jon would obviously still have the power to intervene, but in only the rarest of cases would there be a need for him to.
-and as I stated earlier, it gives us lowly players ;) (sarcasm) a feeling that our opinions matter.
-this option would still allow Jon to maintain all of his rights to personal intelectual property, and the emotional ties that have to go along with that.
I would suggest keeping the term somewhat short for the elected person as there could be a great deal of stress involved in mediating some of these issues, but I will leave that up to the big brains around here. (6 months was my thought) I would however think it best to allow a person to run for consecutive terms if they are satisfied with their position and wish to keep doing it. If the majority of people playing the game feel the person is doing a good job and is still the best person for the job, they will get re-elected and everyone is happy.
Depending on the scope of this persons duties, compensation could even be offered from what ever fund the fines are deposited into. It is my understanding that these funds are normally utilized for contests, rewards, etc. I feel that a calm community environment, and no drastic changes fueled by personal feelings or disagreements is as good a reward as any for everyone playing the game.
Ok now you have gotten 4 cents out of me... Flame away